Sport psychology
[7] The early years of sport psychology were also highlighted by the formation of the Deutsche Hochschule für Leibesübungen (College of Physical Education) in Berlin, Germany, by Robert Werner Schulte in 1920.
[8] However, it was a bit later during the Cold War period (1946–1989) that numerous sport science programs were formed, due to the military competitiveness between the Soviet Union and the United States, and as a result of attempts to increase the Olympic medal numbers.
In North America, early years of sport psychology included isolated studies of motor behavior, social facilitation, and habit formation.
[13] Researchers Albert Johanson and Joseph Holmes tested baseball player Babe Ruth in 1921, as reported by sportswriter Hugh S. Fullerton.
Studies such as Johanson and Holme's test on Ruth were foundational in the establishment of the importance of sport psychology as a field, both in the eye of the public and the scientific community.
The fifth characteristic of a behavioral approach is to place a high value on accountability for everyone involved in the design, implementation, and evaluation of an intervention (Martin & Pear, 2011).
In ABA, the term social validation refers to procedures to ensure that the techniques employed by a practitioner are selected and applied in the best interests of the clients.
In behavioral sport psychology, social validation requires that the practitioner constantly seek answers to three questions: (a) What do the athletes (and perhaps the coach and parents) think about the goals of the intervention?
He performed causal studies on vision and attention of basketball and soccer players, and was interested in their reaction times, muscular tension and relaxation, and mental awareness.
He also investigated how high altitudes can have an effect on exercise and performance, aeroembolism, and decompression sickness, and studies on kinesthetic perception, learning of motor skills, and neuromuscular reaction were carried out in his laboratory.
[26] In 1964, he wrote a paper "Physical Education: An Academic Discipline", that helped further advance sport psychology, and began to give it its scholarly and scientific shape.
In 1979, Rainer Martens published an article entitled "About Smocks and Jocks", in which he contended that it was difficult to apply specific laboratory research to sporting situations.
Martens contended: "I have grave doubts that isolated psychological studies which manipulate a few variables, attempting to uncover the effects of X on Y, can be cumulative to form a coherent picture of human behavior.
Due to the pressure of competitive nature of sports and the amount of energy it takes to excel, ensuring healthy mental wellbeing is paramount.
[67] Athletes who experience burnout may have different contributing factors, but the more frequent reasons include perfectionism, boredom, injuries, excessive pressure, and overtraining.
For examples, researchers may study the most effective methods for giving feedback, rewarding and reinforcing behavior, communicating, and avoiding self-fulfilling prophecies in their athletes.
This holistic philosophy (Mind- Body- Heart- Spirit) assesses quickly the mental Health of athletes while measuring their performance progresses.
Sport psychologists focus on developing coaching communication styles that are direct, complete, immediate, and clear, while also being supportive, specific to the athlete, and verbally and non-verbally congruent.
Identified and integrated regulations represent self-determined types of extrinsic motivation because behavior is initiated out of choice but not necessarily perceived as enjoyable.
Some identified stressors included excessive amounts of pressure, spectators, training, competition environment, injuries, physical errors, abilities, self-doubt, watching the opponent, etc.
Research in this context is increasing every day and multiple studies have shown the importance of sport psychology has plays in improving the performance of coaches and athletes.
To successfully use this technique, athletes must allot about twenty to thirty minutes to the activity, tense each muscle group for about four to eight seconds, and ensure that controlled and deep breathing is also applied.
[114] A study on competitive swimmers found that regular practice of deep breathing exercises can improve lung functions by increasing respiratory endurance.
This stage is described as including dissociation and intense concentration to the point of being unaware of one's surroundings, lack of fatigue and pain, perceptual time-slowing, and feeling power and control.
[132] Good imagery, therefore, attempts to create as lifelike an image as possible through the use of multiple senses (e.g., sight, smell, kinesthetic), proper timing, perspective, and accurate portrayal of the task.
Vividness theory suggests that athletes use the five senses to take in information while completing an action, and then using the memories of these stimuli to make their mental recreation of the event as realistic as possible[135].
[139] For example, a softball player may think "release point" when at bat to direct her attention, while a golfer may say "smooth stroke" before putting to stay relaxed.
[154] Research on athlete personalities allows professionals to put in the maximum investment and select specific sports due to a background understanding of the dynamic that they are intervening in.
In 1899, William James discussed the importance of exercise, writing it was needed to "furnish the background of sanity, serenity...and make us good-humored and easy of approach.
[163] Additionally, meeting exercise requirements can also aid in alleviating symptoms of avoidance disorders and anxiety, while also providing a higher quality of life for the patient in terms of physical health.
